Diversity Stands Out
A review
of new
films worth
scouring for
‘City
of
Roses’
See Opinionated
Judge, page 2
Volume XLVIII • Number 26
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • July 17, 2019
Demanding Police
Accountability
Activists want seat
in new police union
contract
See Local News, page 3
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Ricki Coleman (from left), Peggy Hackenbruck, Margaret Ann Jones, and Busch, represent the many volunteers and community members served by the Q Center on
North Mississippi Avenue, a public space providing cultural, emotional and physical safety for people in the LGBTQ+ community. The center just completed a successful
campaign to raise donations for maintenance upgrades.
On Stronger Footing
Q Center support serves diverse community
by D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
The Q Center, a nonprofit providing services and a safe
space for Portland and southwest Washington’s LGBTQ+
community, has just completed an intense fundraising
effort to complete much needed maintenance to their
building on North Mississippi Avenue, but advocates say
continued community support in funding and volunteer-
ing are essential to keeping the Pacific Northwest’s largest
LGBTQ+ community center up and running.
“If they have that itch to help, that itch to serve, show
up, say I’m here to help or volunteer,” pleads Busch, a two
spirit trans-woman who is a Q Center board member and
who also helps lead a Friday night trans women support
group at the center. “We’re a 503-c non-profit organiza-
tion and we have a balance sheet that sometimes dips to-
ward the red line. We do not like to have much experience
with that, so yeah, time, talent, and treasure is all that we
look for here to be able to help.”
The Q Center’s recent Resilience Campaign raised
over $100,000 for building improvements to its commu-
nity space; an effort executive director Cameron Whitten
called a “resounding success.”
Thanks to support from anonymous donors and a grant
from Prosper Portland, the city’s economic development
agency, the Q Center reached 75 percent of its fundrais-
ing drive in early June, then sprinted to raise an additional
$45,000 to inch past the goal.
The new resources will pay for improvements to a ceil-
ing that is in disrepair throughout the building, some dry-
wall work and electrical work, and other upgrades, esti-
C ontinueD on p age 11